One Day
by BuryTheHatchet
Summary: Set around the time that Gibbs leaves. Very TIVA. It does ramble a bit at the beginning.


**Another little one-shot. I wrote this one up when I was away the other day and was unsure whether to post it, but decided that I did like it enough.**

 **It is based after Hiatus, once Gibbs has left and once the mission with Jeanne had started. I do not know if I got the timeline quite right, but I think it is more-or-less fine.**

One Day

She sat at her desk, her eyes affixed to his oh-so-white teeth. _He should patent that grin_ she thought to herself, regretting the thought as soon as she had it. He was her boss now. Or at least temporary boss. The late nights doing paperwork with him at her apartment were just that – late nights doing paperwork. They could not be anything more, she could not let it. Maybe they could have been something more before He quit. She thought they might have been millimetre-ing towards it, not quite moving fast enough to be inching. If anything now, they were closer than they had ever been, yet further away than they had ever been at the same time. He had become her closest friend, _and that is all he can ever be_ , she scolded herself, knowing that however much she wished for more, it could never be. She allowed herself to slouch in much the same way she had when she first met him and bit her index-finger nail as she ran over the dilemma in her head. She had overheard a conversation between the director and the SecNav about needing a new team leader in Rota, Spain, and that he would be a good fit there, just as soon as they could find a permanent replacement for Gibbs. She did not want that. Yes, of course, she liked Jenny and McGee and Abby and Ducky and even maybe Palmer on occasions, but Tony was the reason she stayed in her liaison position at NCIS. She had half a mind to leave Mossad all together, get a regular job with regular people, but seeing Tony every day was the reason she stayed. It was her reward after a hard case to look across to the desk that used to be Gibbs' to see his face, smiling up at her. She realised she had been staring for too long when he started to speak. She turned back to the case report she had on her lap, sitting up from her provocative slouch and removing her finger from her lip. She moved her chair back to face her desk, trying to filter out what Tony was saying from her own very loud thoughts. Her body tensed and her head balanced in her hands, she twisted her face to look at him, his frown.

"Are you alright?" He asked, leaning forwards in his chair.

"Fine." She snapped. "What were you saying?"

"I asked you when your birthday was." He smiled, masking the worry he felt when he looked at his friend, her elbows rigidly bolted to the desk as she cradled her head in her hands.

"What?" She crinkled her brow, caught off guard by the sudden question.

"Your birthday. See, I know when McGee's is, and I know when Ducky's and Abby's and Palmer's and Jenny's are, I even know when Lee's is." He shrugged. "But even though we've been working together for almost a year."

"Eleven months." Said Ziva, quietly.

"Right, so even though we've been working together for eleven months, I still don't know when your birthday is, which means that it is either this month or we've missed it and you didn't tell us. So which is it?"

She looked at her watch and then back at him. "Tony, I have to drop this file off to Ducky and then I have a date." She bluffed, completely ignoring his question and standing up. She walked through the squad room, everyone's eyes on her, to the elevator, and hit the top button.

Tony frowned at her strange behaviour. "Date? She didn't tell me about a date…" He muttered quietly, staring at her empty seat. "She tell either of you about a date?"

"No." McGee and Lee said in unison. "But then, she's been very quiet since Gibbs retired." McGee shrugged. "She hasn't spoken about anything personal."

"Gibbs didn't retire, McGee, he quit." Tony looked at his senior field agent and sighed. "You two might as well go home." He stood up and looked at the two agents staring at him. "Go on. Go." He shook his head as they both gathered their bags and hurried towards the front elevator. He could feel Tim's worried eyes lingering on his back before he walked away. _Date? She would have told him about a date, wouldn't she?_ They had been talking a lot more, recently. Spending a lot of time together. He stormed towards the elevator Ziva had just left in and hit the button for Ducky's basement lair, releasing some of his anger on the metal wall of the box. Maybe he should have turned down the job of being team leader, let someone else do it. The way he saw it, no one could manage worse than him. He had thought – hoped even – that he and Ziva… well, he had hoped that the spark that had been flying around for, well, eleven months, would find something to ignite, but alas, it hadn't. Maybe he should retire himself, hand his badge and the team to McGee. He could go buy a ranch, have some horses maybe, live a quiet peaceful life with nothing and no one to bother him. The elevator doors slid open and dinged. Ducky was just walking out of Autopsy, flicking the lights off as he left.

"Ah, Anthony, what brings you down here so late in the day with no case?"

"Ducky, did Ziva drop that file off?" He asked, craning his head to see if his little Israeli friend had remained in Autopsy.

"No, I haven't seen our officer David since we had tea yesterday."

"You and Ziva have tea together?" Tony asked, shocked.

"Much like your late night meetings with her, she would appreciate our Wednesday morning ritual to be kept quiet." The Scotsman smiled.

"How do you know about that?"

"She likes to have someone to talk to about her feelings, dear boy." He patted Tony's shoulder. "Why were you looking for her?"

"I'm worried about her." He bit his lip, wondering if he should provide Ducky with more details. "I asked her when her birthday was and she seemed to get upset and said she was coming to see you and then that she had a date. I thought she would have told me if she had a date."

"Ah." The old pathologist stepped into the elevator. He made sure Tony was watching as his finger hovered over the top button before he punched the button to the ground floor. "If you find her…" He tilted his head up, as if the words he wanted were on the ceiling. "Be gentle. And be careful, don't push." He laid his hand on Tony's shoulder again and nodded gently before stepping into the foyer. The team leader looked up to the ceiling of the elevator and frowned before looking back at the buttons and trying to decipher the cryptic conversation. He pressed the top most floor and tried to remember what was up there. Nothing. It was just file storage and accountants up there. And the stairs. The stairs to the roof. He stepped out of the elevator when it finally arrived at the correct floor and ran to the stairs, taking them two at a time. He eased the heavy fire door open and looked around to see his partner. He saw her body, huddled in the corner, her face turned up to the stars. Pale moonlight illuminated her as he walked closer.

"Stay there, Tony. Do not come closer." She made her voice as strong as possible.

"Why?" He asked softly, freezing were he stood.

"Because I do not want to hurt you." She turned her face to him and he could see the tears running down her cheeks.

"What makes you think you'll hurt me?"

"Because I hurt everyone, Tony." She rested her chin on her knees. Her body seemed to have relaxed when she noticed him, he thought.

"No. You don't, Ziva. Trust me." He shrugged and walked closer, sitting next to her. "It's cold up here." He wrapped his jacket around her, trying not to feel hurt when she flinched away.

"Tony, what are you doing here?"

"I'm making sure my best friend is okay." He looked up at the stars. "What's wrong?"

"I am fine."

"Ziva David, I have had many a woman tell me that she is fine, but you are by far the least convincing. What's wrong?" He watched her as she turned away from him. "Please, Ziva." He lay his hand on her arm, his brow furrowing when she gasped slightly, involuntarily.

"It is nothing, truly." She said quietly, barely more than a whisper. "Please, Tony. Stop asking."

"Okay. How about your birthday. Why won't you tell me when it is?"

"Because it is not a day to celebrate." Tony had to strain his ears to hear at this point, she had grown so quiet.

"I think your birth is a very important thing to celebrate."

"No, Tony. It is a day of death." She shook her head and looked at him.

"No, now I think you're getting your English confused." He chuckled slightly. "Birth equals life, not death."

"No, Tony. It is a day of death."

"Why?" He asked quietly, not certain whether he wanted an answer.

"Because it is in two weeks time." She looked at him, seeing if the date registered in his mind. "Because one year ago on my birthday you were on your way to Indiana for Kate's funeral, and I was in Gibbs' basement, staring at my dead brother." The tears flowed faster now, her sobs stifled by the hand she covered her mouth with.

"Oh, Ziva." He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her slight yet powerful form. "I'm sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry for? I am the monster." She laughed bitterly at herself.

"You're not a monster, Ziva."

"I am. You should not even look at me."

"You're too beautiful not to look at." He shrugged and pulled her head into his chest as her mask shattered. The walls she had built around her came tumbling down. "Over the years I've seen many reactions to me telling women they're beautiful, but none have broken down and cried their eyes out." He smiled, lightening the mood slightly. He felt her chuckle through the tears. They could run away together, never have to think of NCIS again. He smiled at the idea, and then remembered. Jeanne. The mission hadn't gotten very far – he could just tell Jenny that he wanted out, blame it on commitment issues. "Hey, have you ever thought about buying a ranch, having cows and horses?"

"What?" She looked up at him through watery eyes, sniffing slightly.

"You know, living out somewhere remote, not having to think about the rest of the world?"

"No." She shook her head, frowning.

"One day, that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna run away, find somewhere nice – like they dreamed of in _Of Mice and Men_. Just get away from it all. I'll have rabbits and chickens and horses. You want to come with me?" He looked at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"One day." She looked up at him, completely serious. "One day, we shall pack our bags and leave."

"Yeah, better make sure the Probie's up to the job of being team leader though."

"Yes, and that agent Lee is a good enough agent to be senior field agent."

"Oh, yeah. It might be a while before we can buy that ranch then, Ziva." He kissed the top of her head. "But I promise you, we will. One day."

 **For my reference: 6th NCIS fic.**


End file.
